You misused verses in “Did Jesus Eat Meat?”
Question:
I was just reading Was Jesus a Vegetarian? Did Jesus Eat Meat? on your website, and I came across this passage:
"It is true that in the beginning, mankind only ate vegetables (Genesis 1:29-30). However, this was changed when Noah departed the ark. "Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant." (Genesis 9:3)."
I usually reference the actual book when faced with one-liners like this because I feel that I need more context, so I did, and it reads:
"Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man" (Genesis 9:3-5).
It basically says that you will pay for eating animals with your life! I then did a search through an online Bible and this notion comes up again in both Leviticus and Ezekiel. Are you aware of this?
And then Acts 10. Some starving hungry guy heard a voice telling him to kill and eat an animal and he refused because he had never eaten it before. Further proving that he, a man of God, was a vegetarian! And how do we know it was the voice of God he heard anyway? And even if it was, it was only because he was starving. Eating flesh is forgivable but not ideal. And eating it regularly, saying to yourself "Oh, He will forgive me" does not cut it. Actually, such a willful sin against the Spirit is blasphemy!
And I Corinthians 10. It just says if you are at the home of a non-believer and they offer you food, eat it, whatever it is unless it's a sacrifice to a false god, then do not eat it. It doesn't say, eat whatever you want at the market.
Are you intentionally trying to be misleading?
Answer:
"Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs. But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man's brother I will require the life of man" (Genesis 9:3-5).
People do have difficulty reading the older English of the King James Version. Something that is clearly stated can be misconstrued, especially by those so inclined. Genesis 9:3-4 states that animals were given to mankind as food, just as vegetables were given to man prior to the Flood. The only requirement is that the blood had to be drained from the meat.
Genesis 9:5 changes the topic slightly. The spilling of man's blood (i.e. murder) had to be avenged, whether it was an animal that killed a man or another man. Your application of this passage to animals does not match what it states.
Leviticus 17:10-16 and Leviticus 19:26 also state that blood was not to be eaten. Neither forbids the eating of meat. In fact, hunting for meat is specifically mentioned: "Whatever man of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who hunts and catches any animal or bird that may be eaten, he shall pour out its blood and cover it with dust" (Leviticus 17:13).
I'm not certain which passage in Ezekiel you found interesting. I do know that there is nothing in Ezekiel that commands a vegetarian diet for the general population.
Regarding Peter, you twisted what he said. "And a voice came to him, "Rise, Peter; kill and eat." But Peter said, "Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean." But Peter said, "Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean." And a voice spoke to him again the second time, "What God has cleansed you must not call common" " (Acts 10:13-15). The command is identified as being from God, by the way (Acts 10:28). Peter did not say he did not eat meat. He stated he had not violated the Old Law's requirement not to eat unclean (or common) animals. Deuteronomy 14:2-21 gives a list of what may and what may not be eaten by an Israelite under the Old Law.
For someone checking the verses, you didn't do an adequate job with I Corinthians 10. The passage cited states, "Eat whatever is sold in the meat market, asking no questions for conscience' sake; for "the earth is the LORD'S, and all its fullness" " (I Corinthians 10:25-26).
I hope this helps your reading comprehension a bit.
